Tuesday, March 17, 2009

So, I've sort of made a goal for myself this year that I would read 25 books. Now, I've read On Writing by Stephen King recently, which was purchased on Amazon from SmokeyMtnBooks. (Buy from them if you want super fast shipping.) And Stephen King reads around 70 books a year he says. I'm not sure if I'm there yet. However, On Writing is a great book if you love Stephen King's work and if you wish to be a writer one day. Even if you don't want to be a writer you should buy On Writing because it has a lot of his biography in the book. He's a neat guy.

Another book I purchased on Amazon recently is Jurassic Park (go ahead, allow the masses to sigh and call me a dweeb) but it is an absolute wonderful book. It's like the movie, but much of it is very different and it's an exciting read. I purchased it from Breaktimebooks on Amazon. Their shipping was very fast and the book was in just the condition they said it would be in: Good.Jurassic Park is written by Michael Crichton who was a scientist. His writing is filled with tech knowledge, but it's interesting and good. It never get's boring. He mastered the art of teaching his audience while entertaining them.

And I also recently purchased another Stephen King book, Bag of Bones. I've not started reading it yet, but Stephen King speaks of this book in On Writing and says that the house in the book is much like his own Summer Home in Bangor, Maine. I picked Bag of Bones up on Amazon from Seashellbooks, inc. The shipping was fast and the book was in just the condition they said it would be in which was: fair. I like the weathered look though on my book shelf. Speaking of book shelves we purchased Invisible Book Shelves a few weeks ago on Amazon. It is an Umbra 330632 shelf and you simply screw it into your wall and then place your books on the "L" shape and WALLA! You have floating books! We picked those up from Jumby Bay Studios on Amazon.Here are the books being held up by the Umbra 330632 Invisible Shelves!

There you have it folks! Book reviews and some really neat shelves!

Check out all the sellers I've mentioned. I wouldn't mention them unless they were good.

Hey, if you like Jewlery be sure to check out our store on Etsy. We also have an array of antique items as well.

Friday, March 13, 2009

We woke up yesterday morning and noticed that mold was growing under our bathroom sink (yeah, we didn't notice earlier) so we called the plumber, Jarron Jones, proprietor of TriJ Plumbing in Cape Coral, FL. In less than 30 minutes he had cut a large hole in our wall, torn out the sink and the vanity (which fell apart from rot pretty much) and in just over an hour he had fixed the problem...the valve in our guest bathroom shower had broken and was leaking into the wall! Now, we have to replace the sink (since the whole thing pretty much fell apart) and re-drywall the wall but not before treating the inside of the wall for mold (Bleach and water spray will work fine).

How is that for a surprise attack on the bank account?! So far, this renovation is up to $749.00! And we have not purchased dry wall, tape or paint yet. What is the good thing though? Well, we have a couple of good things, one being that we were able to replace our standard, boring white sink for a new, trendy-looking one. We went to Ebay this morning and purchased from seller Decorselections whose store can be located at www.stores.ebay.com/Concept-Baths-and-InteriorsHere is the sink that we purchased from them!Their price was just right...it's a great deal and many of the items in their store are priced just right. You will not be disappointed with your purchase. You'll most likely not get a better deal anywhere.

I mentioned that I had a couple of good things to talk about this.

The second is that we were able to afford this surprise renovation because we used Dave Ramsey's get out of debt program called Financial Peace Univeristy. Go to www.daveramsey.com to learn in detail about Dave and his program. It's not a cheesy, boring get out of debt by having no life type of a deal. It's fun and entertaining...and DO-ABLE! We had over $10,000 in credit card debt, over $15,000 in car loans and next to $0 in savings.

By using his program we were inspired to get rid of one car, paying off the other and getting rid of all our credit card debt in a year! (We don't make much money either) Also, in June we bought our first house, $44,900 a foreclosure. Our mortgage is $350.00 per month...think about it...we were paying $750 in rent a year ago.Also, Dave Ramsey teaches about having an emergency fund which is 3-6 months expenses in the bank. Not to be touched for anything except emergencies. Well, we had 3 months expenses saved and the $1000 or so dollars this whole project is going to cost us in the end...it'll be paid for using cash...finally, we had a plan for our emergencies and Visa, Mastercard or American Express did not have a better option!

So, you have two things to do. Check out the Ebay store owned by Decorselections and go to www.daveramsey.com

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

It's a beautiful morning. Sariye, the youngest was awake again at the very hint of first light. We woke up and came into the kitchen where I tuned into Misty Edwards radio on Pandora. I made some coffee in the French Press and Sariye ate a plumb and a Kashi breakfast bar. Though we live in the hottest place on earth (I'm convinced.) It was cool out this morning and we were able to watch the sun rise over the house tops while I dreamed of watching that in South Africa, Italy or somewhere else other than Florida.

Of course, I browsed Etsy for the latest finds and discovered a nice shope from cocoondesigns who makes cute little creatures from scratch...yes...hand made! My favorite is Owly. Make sure when you are looking for cute stuffed creatures for your kids or friends check out cocoondesigns at www.cocoondesigns.etsy.com

Another Etsy seller who is taking the market by storm is TinaTarnoff's shop which features great PaperCut Art found at www.tinatarnoff.etsy.com and my favorite is For the Love of Crows. The artist hand cuts each piece and mounts it on Indian Cotton Rag paper. It's stunning work and will show well in any home or studio.

On The Little Quirky Shoppe side of things we are toying with some promotional ideas like giveaways, sales, etc... Stay tuned for more information and check into the store often as we are updating and adding new hand made stuff pretty much daily.

Monday, March 9, 2009

I love Nickelcreek radio on Pandora. It takes you away to a different place when listening. Maybe a Tuscan hillside (my dream), or a beautiful secluded garden with a pond and waterfall. It's so relaxing.

I sold one of my favorite items in my store today, the antique flower lamp. I love that lamp, but I'm happy to make a big sale.

I also have a new line of rings. Recycled glass! Check them out at Thelittlequirkyshoppe.com

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Carrabba's is going smoothly. Honestly, the training is grueling; five days of classrooms and memorization of the entire menu. The menu test was eight pages full of blank lines...yes, you had to read the menu item and then describe it to a "T." However, I passed with a "very well" from the trainers who were brought in from out of town. This is serious stuff.

My first three days on the floor by myself brought in enough to meet our weekly budget! I stressed a bit last night, but one of my wonderful coworkers said, "It's only food. It's only food." I calmed down a bit. I worked a twelve hour shift on Valentines day and the day after I worked an eleven hour shift. The next time your server looks or acts a little stressed out or "out of it" think of how long they may have been there. One of the cooks had only been AWAY from the restaurant 5 hours in 3 days! No joke.

Our Etsy business is going well. Sales are slow, but so is the economy. We're trying to keep our thinking caps on and are wondering what we should do in order to not only boost sales for our store, but help other people get more for their money. We'll keep you up to date on those types of things.

Now to our favorite part of this blog: FEATURING

My wife just purchased some beautiful hand made posies made from old post cards and I wanted to get on here and talk about them. I can't wait to see them decorate our house! Seller AUTUMNTOMAY located at www.autumntomay.etsy.com is a wonderful artist and must be featured on this small, yet growing blog of mine. Her stuff is absolutely beautiful and screams creativity. Great job Autumntomay and I can't wait to see the posies!

Alright, I promise it won't be so long as I am trying to blog every other day at the very least.

Friday, February 6, 2009

So, my wife and I are people who pray and we asked God, "God, would you provide a way for me to be home with Sharayah and the girls?" I went into work on Monday and my boss sat us down and said to us, "I'm not sure when, but there is a good chance we could be closing down...you better start lining up possible options for other employment and see what's out there." As so many of you know, there is not much employment happening out there. I stayed home from work one day due to back pain and neck pain which was causing a headache (and had been for days...blasted mattress...it has to be the blasted mattress) and by mid-day after the pain was gone I made my way to Carrabbas. The next day they hired me! I start training tomorrow. The menu test is going to be tough...but I think I can master it.

So, I wonder if my wife and I can be featured on Etsy.com in the "Quit Your Day Job" interviews they have with people who actually leave their "steady" jobs to sell full-time on Etsy. I don't know. Anyone out there with connections, hook us up!

So, our prayer was answered. I get to be home with the family every day...I get to spend 8 hours with my girls instead of working out of the home 8 or 9 hours and spending 3 hours with them. I get to help home-school, help with The Little Quirky Shoppe, heck, I even get to work at my "day job" 10 hours a week for some extra money.